Fish for Kids

by Dana Meachan Rau

This kid's book about keeping fish is a good introduction. It outlines basic setup, water maintenance and fish care. I appreciate the fact that the book points out that although you have to spend time caring for your fish, they are only for looking at and you can't play with them like a cat or dog. That's important for kids to realize! While the book advises that saltwater aquariums require a lot more specialized equipment and are harder to care for, it then goes on to profile quite a few popular saltwater fish. I can just see a kid reading this book and begging their parents to get a pair of clownfish or a seahorse. I've been wanting for a long time to one day keep seahorses, but in no way am I ready for their special needs! The fish species that get brief profiles here (describing needs, water requirements and behavior) include angelfish, bettas, blue-green chromis, goldfish, seahorse, molly, guppy, clownfish, platies and neon tetras. The pictures are okay, nothing spectacular. And while the book didn't introduce me to many new fish (the only one I hadn't heard of before was the chromis) I did learn that neon tetras' color gets duller when they are asleep, and that live-bearing fish (guppies, mollies and platies) like brackish water.

Overall I think this book is very good for children interested in keeping an aquarium, it really lets you know what you're getting into. Borrowed this one from the public library.

Rating: 3/5   48 pages, 2009